We’ve all experienced “the five-second rule”. Remember when Mom picked the last biscuit off the floor at Thanksgiving dinner, blew on it and said, “It’s fine”? Often, she would go on to explain the “five-second rule”.
A study confirmed what Mom always said, “You can eat it if it’s on the floor for just a few seconds”.
What we didn’t know is that if food falls on carpet, it’s likely to have less bacteria than if it fell on a solid surface. If food is moist and lands on tile, it will have the greatest amount of bacteria on it.
Basically, the nature of the food and the surface it lands on are equally important.
One of Mom’s criteria was if the dropped food didn’t have dust bunnies or pet hair on it, you were good to go. If she had “extra”, she might have thrown it away.
A few factors went into her decision. In general, she knew the bugs wouldn’t kill us. She had more important things on her mind.
Claudia
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